


Give Us A Shot

by Welsh_Woman



Series: Give Us A Shot [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Getting Together, Lydia Martin & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nerd Stiles Stilinski, Nice Jock Derek Hale, slight bullying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 11:07:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13052751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Welsh_Woman/pseuds/Welsh_Woman
Summary: Stiles' evenings are usually filled with Halo marathons and falling into researching spirals on Wikipedia. All that changes when Scott needs him to check out the sports teams in an attempt to woo the girl who caught his eye...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Wolves_of_Innistrad](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolves_of_Innistrad/gifts).



Stiles Stilinski isn’t sure when ‘watching the game’ turned into ‘watching Derek Hale play’, but here he is, halfway to the championship game, and his eyes are glued to only one player… whether he has the ball or not.

It had started as a minor thing, really. Scott McCall, Stiles’ best friend and also most frustrating headache, had asked Stiles to check out the sports teams in his most recent attempt to woo the new girl that Scott had insta-crushed on. Being the bestest friend to ever friend, Stiles had agreed even though he thought that trying out would just be a waste of time, since neither one of them were any good…

What? It wasn’t like he was going to make Scott suffer _alone_!

He had checked out the lacrosse teams and the swim teams, leaving the basketball team for last. He made it to the gym just as the guys piled in from the locker room to start practice.

He would’ve said it was like a Disney movie (if he was the kind of person who believed in stuff like that), the way that his gaze had been drawn to a dark haired, beautifully athletic (and slightly familiar) Senior helping a Freshman through some warm-up exercises. It didn’t help that, instead of the usual douchebag behavior that jocks usually pulled, he was nice and helpful to the guy, no matter how many times he had to repeat himself.

He had been kinda stuck after that, despite Scott giving up his plan when the new girl-Allison-had introduced herself to Scott later that same day and the two of them hit it off like they knew each other for years.

Now, though, Stiles has more free time than he knows what to do with, and he’s been spending most of it watching someone run around a court after a ball or defend so well that their team ends up with the ball again. A warm feeling fills his chest every time Derek makes a basket.

Frowning as he watches Derek move to the left side of the court, probably in some sort of defensive position, Stiles tries to remember if he ever felt like this before.

If there ever was this overwhelming need to be there to support someone, whether or not they even knew he existed…

The feeling reminded him of how he was with his dad and Scott, but different somehow. The only thing that came close was the way he had acted around Lydia when-

Stiles jerks in his seat, thankfully not drawing anyone’s attention because Beacon Hills had just scored the winning basket and they’re already on their feet, cheering the team on.

The noise is a good cover for the way that Stiles silently and emphatically  _flips the fuck out._

It’s not that he was surprised that he might’ve liked guys as much, if not more, than he did girls; Danny could attest to the _multiple_ times that Stiles had tried to figure out if he was attractive to gay guys, and the multiple times that Danny answered that even _if_ Stiles was attractive to gay guys, _Danny_ wasn’t one of them.

Danny could be a bit of a dick sometimes…

Stiles shakes his head and tries to get back to what his original thought was, his eyes drifting to the court as he attempted to backtrack, only to find Derek _staring straight at him!_

Dropping his gaze to his lap, Stiles tries to keep from falling into a full-blown panic attack as he mentally tells himself that Derek was simply looking for his friends, that his looking in Stiles’ direction was simply a coincidence and that he was perfectly fine.

Counting his breaths for a few moments, Stiles slowly lifts his head and breathes a sigh of relief to see that Derek has once more focused on the game and is no longer looking at him… or in his direction, as the case may be.

His mini freak out is another reason why Stiles realizing he may have a crush on Derek is a bad thing. He’s had a hard time with Derek’s teammates; Jackson is the major offender with all the bruises that he’s caused shoving Stiles into lockers. Just the thought of one of them knowing how Stiles feels or starting to wonder why Derek is suddenly interested in him…

Why _is_ Derek suddenly looking at him, _if_ that was what he was doing, instead of looking for his friends? It was widely known through the school, as Derek was one of the more popular kids currently walking the halls, that most of his friends usually had their own thing going on during his games and didn’t show up unless it was one of the big ones.

The buzzer goes off again as someone makes another basket and the crowd around him nearly deafens Stiles as they roar. His gaze is pulled to the side of the court as Derek makes his way to the bench, stopping for a second to do a little shimmy with one of the cheerleaders. The roaring of the crowd amplifies when the showoff decides to throw in a freaking _backflip_ while he’s at it!

Finstock growls at Derek even as he laughs, his eyes darting over to where Stiles is sitting and there’s no doubt about it: Derek _definitely_ is looking at him.

Stiles immediately looks over to where the halftime show is going on, feeling his face heat when he catches Derek  _still grinning_ at him from the corner of his eye.

Well, that solves that question, but it also causes about a _thousand_ more to sprout up in his brain and Stiles isn’t sure if he should just make a break for it now, or wait until the game is over to try to hide in the crowd…

What _is_ the deal with Derek?

Is this some sort of jock prank?

Is he trying to win a bet?

Stiles had asked around after seeing him that first time, he started paying more attention in class when he found out that he shared a few with Derek, and aside from that one group project they worked on with about five other people later in the year, he and Derek really don’t interact with each other all that much.

Maybe he’s noticed Stiles’ sudden fixation and is going to make him knock it off? Maybe he thinks that Stiles works for the school newspaper and is expecting to be asked about the great basketball player that’s won the school championships ever since he was a baby freshman.

Maybe-

The buzzer signaling the end of the game, a slightly louder and more piercing buzzer than the one that signals a basket being made, sounds and the entire team rushes the court amid howls of celebration.

Not willing to press his luck and recognizing an opening when he sees one, Stiles uses that moment to slip out of the gym and make his way back home, mind whirling with the thoughts that a jock _actually interacted with him_ (if you could count a smile and _maybe_ a wink as an interaction) without immediately following it up with some sort of insult or attack.

His phone buzzes, pulling Stiles out of his thoughts, and he sees a message from Scott waiting for him.

_Halo 2nite? Or are you still drooling @ Hot Jock?_

**_Yeah, Halo. And I wasn’t drooling!_ **

_Whatev, man. You h8 sports. You go 4 HOT JOCK!_

The next couple of texts come in quick succession and are nothing but a bunch of emojis that end with about twelve eggplants in a row. Stiles is really starting to regret teaching Scott what that means now that he’s using it at every opportunity that he can.

Rolling his eyes, Stiles makes his way over to his Jeep and tries to put confusing Seniors out of his mind while also thinking of some excuse to make up to keep Scott from hassling him all night.

He’s already got enough on his plate.

* * *

Derek finally makes it out of the school, away from all the cheering people, only to see the taillights of a powder blue Jeep as it pulls out of the parking lot and heads down the road.

Damn it.

He _had_ been hoping that the guy who had been showing up to his games lately might actually stick around after this one, especially since Derek decided to let him know that he had noticed him…

Maybe he was just really shy and now that Derek made contact he got nervous? It made sense, considering how many games he had been to and how he never seemed to want to stick around… Or maybe Derek _isn’t_ the one that the guy has been staring at and he left to avoid the awkward conversation that would’ve followed Derek asking him out.

That would make sense, given Derek’s track record with trying to find someone to date who wasn’t crazy or thought that they were ‘better as friends’ only to move towns the next summer. It _would_ make sense that Derek thinks this really cute guy is shyly checking him out and it turns out that Derek was just in the same place as whoever the guy was _really_ looking at…

“Yo, Hale! Where the hell are you going, man? You need to shower and change, we’re going to _Rosa’s_ to celebrate!”

Heaving out a sigh, Derek makes his way back to the locker rooms to shower and dress on automatic, his thoughts still lingering on the guy from the bleachers.

Derek _had_ recognized him as someone from their school, someone that he even had a class with or two with, but couldn’t really pull up anything about him other than he knew the guy was a sarcastic ass. He had spent that one class arguing with Mr. Harris every time the teacher opened his mouth, despite how nearly everyone was scared of the guy...

A hard _thwack_ to his shoulder pulls him out of his thoughts and Derek braces himself just in time to catch Isaac Lahey as he leans all his weight on Derek’s back.

“That last basket was awesome, man! It looked like you had just _growled_ at that defense and the guy nearly pissed his pants! Are you sure you’re not part wolf or something?!?”

Jackson Whittemore shoves Isaac off of Derek before he can respond, making him land heavily on the bench Derek was just sitting on. “Get the fuck off him, Lahey, and go hang on Boyd. That loser needs more friends anyway.”

Derek lands an elbow in the middle of Jackson’s stomach, making the captain let out an ‘oof’ of pain before moving to help Isaac to his feet. “Quit being a dick to Isaac, Jackson, and quit calling Boyd a loser. The guy is twice as good at ball as you are, _and_ he scored more baskets, so chill.”

Giving the lot of them an exaggerated eyeroll, no doubt to cover up the fact that he’s been beaten at his own game, Jackson stomps off to find someone else to torture.

“God, that dude is a dick.” Isaac huffs, rubbing at his hip before deciding it isn’t as injured as he thought. “Someone really needs to take him down a peg or two…”

“Let me know if he’s bothering you, man, I’ll make sure he knocks it off.” Derek doesn’t like that Isaac seems to be able to brush off Jackson’s assholish actions so easily. It makes him feel like this is a regular occurrence instead of a random happenstance.

“I can deal with Jackson, don’t worry. I just wish someone would punch him in the jaw every now and then, just to let him know that he can’t get away with all the shit he pulls.”

“You and nearly everyone he breathes near,” Vernon Boyd mutters, nodding at Derek when he joins them as they exit the locker room. The three of them fall into an easy walk beside each other. “Enough about that douche, let’s talk about why Derek was showing off during the game.”

Derek feels his face getting hot at Boyd’s comment, even more so when Isaac perks up like a puppy asked to play fetch and drawls, “Oh, yeah! I saw that little flip you did, Derek! And don’t say it was for that cheerleader chick you were dancing with, ‘cause you _immediately_ were looking in the bleachers after that!”

“Oooooooh, are we talking about Derek’s possible love life?!?” Erica Reyes pounces on Boyd’s back when they make it out to the parking lot, giving him a rather enthusiastic kiss as soon as he catches her. “Mhm, has someone finally caught your eye?”

Heaving out a sigh and knowing that they won’t let this go, or (God forbid!) they’ll get his family involved until he says something, Derek reluctantly tells them about the boy that has been coming to their games and his hope that maybe he was coming because he was working up the nerve to talk to Derek.

“-But he keeps leaving before I can talk to him, and he doesn’t seem like he’s really paying attention to anyone else, much less the _game_ , so I don’t know what his deal is!” Derek concludes a few hours later, when they finally made it to _Rosa’s_ and found a table a little way away from the loudly celebrating basketball team.

“He sounds familiar…” Isaac muses, munching on a fry as he manfully ignores the way Boyd and Erica are practically eating each other’s faces. “I think I’ve seen him around before, might even be a friend of a friend…”

“You have more friends?” Derek teases, smile growing when Isaac rolls his eyes at him.

“Ha ha. _Yes_ , I have more friends. Sometimes I need a break from _that_.” Isaac gestures to where Erica is draped over Boyd’s front, the both of them pretzeled around each other in a way that has Derek ignoring the fact that he can only see Boyd’s hands.

“Good point. Think they could be my friends too?”

“Let me check if this guy is the one you’re looking for, and then we’ll see.”


	2. Chapter 2

Gaming with Scott _always_ makes Stiles feel better, and tonight was no different, despite the teasing about Derek.

Due to Stiles being unable to completely keep anything from his bro, Scott has the basic understanding of Stiles’ newfound interest in Derek, but he doesn’t know _of_ him past ‘the Hot Jock’ nickname, or the depth of Stiles’ obsession.

Well, he wouldn’t call it an obsession; it was more like a super-focused interest, which happened every now and again, but rarely enough that everyone and their mother made sure to remind Stiles of whatever his _last_ ‘obsession’ was.

“So, should I be on the lookout for another billboard asking a Hot Jock to go on a date with you?”

Stiles groans as Scotty’s question coincides with him kicking Stiles off the road in Mario Kart, the game they had picked when Stiles inattention had proven rather fatal in Halo earlier. “It wasn’t a billboard, it was just a really long banner of art paper and I was twelve, man! You’ve done some pretty stupid shit to impress a girl you like, so you have no room to talk!”

“I _knew_ you liked him! I _knew_ it wasn’t just some social study bullshit!”

Scott manages to knock him off the road _again_ and then Stiles gets bumped all the way back to eighth place on the last lap, so he gives it up as a bad job. “I _can’t_ like him, Scott! He’s a _jock_! If he doesn’t beat me up for just _looking_ at him tomorrow, then the rest of his posse will! I know _Jackson_ , at least _,_ will make my life miserable if he so much as catches a whiff of this!”

“Not all of the jocks are assholes, Stiles.” Scott must realize that this is a serious matter, because he pauses the game and twists so that he’s facing Stiles head-on. “Besides, if this guy is as awesome as you say he is, then he should tell his friends to lay off… Hell, he shouldn’t even be friends with them in the first place if they’re all like Jackson _._ ”

“I don’t think he’s like Jackson,” Stiles mutters, automatically defending Derek even as he realizes it was _true_. Aside from them playing on the same team, Stiles hasn’t even seen Derek and Jackson _looking_ at each other, much less talking.

“So you have nothing to worry about then!” Scott’s unwavering optimism makes Stiles snort, which in turn causes his friend to make a face at him before starting up the game again. “Alright, yes, you have to worry about him saying that he doesn’t like you or want to date you, but that’s the worry that _everybody_ has when they’re asking someone out! You’ll be fine!”

“And yet, you _always_ make it sound like it’s the end of the world whenever _you_ have to think of something to say to a girl you like…”

“Whereas you _never_ think about what to say and just blurt out the first thing that pops into your head,” is Scott’s smug reply. He uses that moment to throw a blue shell at Stiles’ character, effectively stealing his position at first place. “I think the real problem here is making sure that this guy doesn’t run away, because you can be kind of an asshole, dude.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Scotty, really means the world to me.” Despite the sarcastic reply, Stiles knows that Scott does have a point. He _does_ tend to say the first thing that comes to mind, and it _does_ have a track record of blowing up in his face.

At least the plus side is that Derek will know right away what he’s getting into…?

Dropping his controller on the floor, Stiles thumps his head back against his bed before rubbing both of his hands over his face, huffing out a hard breath before stating, “I have no idea what to do here, Scott. I just… _really_ want him to like me.”

Once more, the game music cuts off as Scott pauses it. There are a few moments of silence before he asks, “Do you _really_ think he won’t or is this just you looking for the worst situation that could happen?”

“I don’t even _know_ him, Scott, aside from the fact that he has a few classes with me and plays basketball. I can say that about most of the players on the team. Hell, I can say that about _Jackson._ I have no idea if he’ll like me or not, I don’t even know if he likes _guys_!”

“Hey, Stiles, relax!” Scott has now completely abandoned the game and is tugging on Stiles’ hands, trying to get Stiles to look at him, but Stiles will not be moved by Scott’s pitiful puppy dog eyes. “I’ll go talk to him or one of his friends and find out if he likes guys at least, that way you’ll have one less thing to worry about when you talk to him!”

“You’d… really do that for me, Scotty?”

“Sure!”

Stiles drops his hands and gives Scott a grin to rival the one stretching across his bro’s face, only for it to slip a few seconds later when something that he hasn’t really thought of makes itself known.

“Shit, you’re only doing this so that I tell you who ‘Hot Jock’ is, aren’t you?!?”

Scott’s laughter is the only answer Stiles gets, and it causes him to drop to the floor in an attempt to crawl under the bed and get away from everything.

“Ah, come on, Stiles! It isn’t that bad!”

Groaning, Stiles is tempted to ask what could possibly be worse, but decides to keep from pressing his luck any further today. “Just promise me that you’ll at least _try_ to make me sound cooler than I am when talking to Derek, please?”

“I prom- wait, _Derek_? As in Derek _Hale_? The **MVP** of our basketball team and the guy that has **_nearly the whole school_** after him? _That_ Derek?”

The utter shock in Scott’s voice tells Stiles just how ridiculous this whole thing is and he decides to go back to his previous plan of hiding under the bed for the next three years.

“Hey, no, Stiles! I’ll still talk to him! Stiles-!”

* * *

Isaac Lahey never said that he was an altruistic person, so when he told Derek that he would talk to a guy he knew about Derek’s secret admirer, he may have had an ulterior motive…

“Hey! Scott! Scott McCall!”

Scott spins where he’s standing, seemingly surprised that someone is calling him, before a grin splits his face at seeing Isaac heading his way. He’s pretty sure that Scott looks the exact same way at anyone that talks to him, but Isaac can’t help the warm feeling that settles in his chest as Scott focuses his entire attention on him.

“Hey, Isaac! What’s up? Having trouble in Mrs. Rosemary’s class again?”

Isaac fights off a blush as he remembers the last excuse that he used to spend some time with Scott, one that fell through rather spectacularly when he realized just how bad Scott was at algebra. He attempts to adopt a nonchalant pose as he asks, “Hey, you know your friend Stiles?”

The confused look on Scott’s face is adorable. “Yeah, but I didn’t know that you knew him…”

“You’d be surprised at what I know.” slips past Isaac’s lips, complete with a wink, before he can think about it. He’s nearly struck speechless by the red flush that blooms across Scott’s cheeks.

Isaac clears his throat hastily as he tries not to think about how far down that goes. He practically stumbles over his next question when he sees Scott give him a curious once-over.

“A-anyway, do you know if Stiles is seeing someone right now?”

Scott’s face goes from curious to apologetic so fast that Isaac is seriously worried that he pulled something.

The redness from earlier makes a comeback as he stammers, “Geez, I- I’m sorry, man, but Stiles kinda has his eye on someone? I- I mean, he’s kind of a one-person kind of guy, so even if you talked to him, I don’t think…”

It takes him a second to realize what Scott is implying. When he does, Isaac starts waving his hands in the air in front of him, trying to banish the thought of him and _Stiles_. “Good God, **_no_**! I was just asking for a friend of mine; Stiles has been watching the basketball games lately and Derek was hoping that he had been coming to see him play. The last thing I want to do is go out with _Stiles_!”

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with Stiles! You would be lucky to go out with him!” Scott’s response makes Isaac want to grin, mainly because he sounds so _indignant_ on his friend’s behalf. “I mean, if you don’t want to, that’s fine, but you don’t have to make it sound like- wait, did you say Derek? You don’t mean Derek _Hale_ , do you?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“This is perfect!” Scott nearly startles Isaac to death when he bounds forward to grasp Isaac’s hands between his own. “I was going to ask around if Derek was interested in Stiles, or even guys in general, and you just saved me the hassle! Oh my god, Stiles is going to be _so_ happy about this! I knew he was worried over nothing!”

Either Scott is a few inches shorter than him, or Isaac’s just being pulled forward with every excited jerk that Scott gives, because it turns out that he’s a lot closer to Scott than he thought…

Scott takes advantage of their placement when he suddenly darts forward to plant a kiss on Isaac’s cheek and then runs off. ~~~~He throws ‘I owe you big time for this!’ over his shoulder as he goes.

Isaac is drawn out of his stupor by the sound of a giggle behind him. It turns out to be Kira, one of Scott’s ex-girlfriends, and one of the few female lacrosse players that they have.

“Yeah, he does that a lot.” She dimples at him, making it easy to see how she and Scott remained friends after their break-up, and makes a motion to Scott’s retreating form. “You’ll have to talk to him about it if you want to make sure he knows how important the kissing is… but then again, maybe you two don’t have that kind of relationship and-”

“We don’t- I mean, Scott and I aren’t dating.”

Her grin slips into a look of embarrassment as she immediately starts to blurt, “Oh! I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed- I just thought that since he kissed you- but that shouldn’t mean anything, and I shouldn’t just think because two guys kiss, or one guy kisses another guy, that it means-”

“No, it doesn’t.” Isaac’s retort makes Kira look like a kicked puppy. Isaac rolls his eyes with a sigh and clarifies, “I mean, just because I want to date Scott doesn’t mean that Scott wants to date me. He could’ve just been being friendly. Didn’t he ever kiss _you_ on the cheek?”

Right after Isaac asks, he closes his eyes as he realizes just how stupid that sounded. He’s glad that he can’t see the look on Kira’s face, even though he can hear the skepticism in her tone.

“Well, yes, but we were dating… and I’ve never seen him kissing Stiles like that… I mean, it looked like he paused for a second before pulling away, and he was all red and-”

Isaac tries not to let his hope grow too much at Kira’s words, but it’s a little hard to do with each instance that she pulls up. Somehow she knows about Isaac’s attempt to get Scott to ‘teach’ him algebra, as well as Scott’s panic about not being good enough to help…

“Wait!” Kira’s eyes light up with a gleam that Isaac’s seen a few times in Erica’s eyes before, making him immediately tense up with worry as she waves to someone behind him. “I have an idea.”

Afraid to ask what that just might be, Isaac instead turns around to see who she was waving at…

His stomach drops when he sees the strawberry blonde hair and immaculate appearance of one Lydia Martin.


	3. Chapter 3

Lydia Martin’s parties are legendary amongst the entirety of Beacon Hills High, from the freshmen to the teachers, and it’s only been since about sophomore year that Stiles has been invited to a few of them.

Half of him is sure he had only been invited because Scott dated Kira Yukimura and then Allison Argent. Both girls had been almost immediately drawn into Lydia’s social circle when they moved here within years of each other, and he had just been the annoying third (or would that be fourth?) wheel that had been invited out of pity.

 _Now_ , however, it seems like Lydia is going out of her way to invite him and it’s making him more than a little suspicious…

He tried talking to Scott about it, but his best bro was apparently freaking out about some sort of ‘humongous and life-changing’ revelation that he had, which ‘was going to ruin, like, three people’s lives!’ Thus, he was avoiding Stiles’ questions to freak out about his own problems whenever the two of them were hanging out.

So, Stiles decided that it was best to go straight to the source; there had been a few times when Jackson claimed Lydia had invited him to one of her soirees before the lot of them had become friends, only for him to show up and be utterly _humiliated_ when Lydia hadn’t even _known who he was_.

He figured this way, there was less possibility of embarrassment on his end. At least he and Lydia were kinda friends now and she would at least try to make it seem like Stiles just ended up at the wrong party instead of asking if he was from the catering company she called…

“Let me get this straight…” Lydia raises a brow when he goes to make his normal 'not that I would know!' joke at that phrase, so he just decides to let that slide before continuing on with his original thought, “You are specifically inviting _me_ , Stiles Stilinski: social outcast and recognized nerd, to one of _your_ parties? Really?”

“Why is that so hard to believe?” Lydia hums, inspecting her nails for any flaws or chips in her polish. “You’ve become a lot more bearable after you stopped your obsession with me and actually talked to me like a person, instead of just some goddess on a pedestal.”

“How do you know that I’m not just secretly hoping that being your friend will lead to something more?”

One eyebrow perfectly arched, Lydia says derisively, “We both know you’re not that kind of person, nor are you stupid enough to think that would work. Besides, a little birdie told me you’ve finally cast your eye on someone else…”

“Where did you hear that?” Panicking for a second that Scott decided to blab to everyone about his crush on Derek, Stiles tries to calm his racing heart. Lydia gives him another frustrated look.

“Stiles, you and I both know that nothing at this school happens without me finding out.” Her look softens, and she moves forward to place a hand on his chest, effectively cutting off his panic before it starts to grow too much. “Let’s just say that I have a vested interest in making sure you come to this party. If you just stay for say… an hour and decide that you don’t want to be there any longer, then you can leave, and no one will think less of you.”

“I don’t really care what people think of me.” Stiles tries to joke, shuffling so that he can wrap an arm around Lydia’s shoulder in a quick hug before pulling away. “I just like knowing that you seem to want me to be happy strongly enough to try to sweettalk me into one of your parties, when it wasn’t all that big of a deal before.”

“Please, we both know I barely tolerate you.” Lydia quips with a flip of her hair, but Stiles can see the edge of a smile tugging at her lips. “So, does that mean you’ll go?”

Sighing dramatically, Stiles rolls his eyes. “I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

“To go to the party? No, not really. Be glad I gave you a choice of whether or not you get to leave!”

Yet again, Stiles knows that Lydia’s words are more for show than anything else and that if he _had_ made more of an argument, she would’ve let him off the hook. As it is, his curiosity is winning out over his reluctance, so he decides not to bring that bit of information up.

Squinting at him like she knows what he’s thinking, Stiles realizes that she’s waiting for a definite answer, so he sighs once more and mutters, “Yeah, yeah, I’ll come to your party. What time should I get there?”

“You know, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you _disappointed_ to be going to one of my parties…” Stiles just gives Lydia a look, which earns him an eyeroll in return. “Whatever. Just make sure you’re there by six and try to wear something that doesn’t look like it came from a baby lumberjack’s bargain bin.”

“Hey! I’ll have you know that plaid is very in right now!”

Giving him one more look that says he really _isn’t_ the one to be throwing around fashion tips, Lydia simply turns on her heel and makes her way down the hallway, leaving Stiles feeling like he just made a huge mistake.

Maybe he should join Scott in freaking out now…

* * *

“Tell me why I’m here again?” Derek asks, trying to figure out if Erica really will run him down and drag him back by his ear if he bolts now. He never was a big party person, and he’s even more suspicious of this sudden invite to Lydia Martin’s Christmas bash.

“I told you already: Isaac said that he needed backup for something, and I told him I would bring you and Boyd along to make sure that he had enough muscle for whatever was going down.” Erica turns and pins Derek with a stare that rather uncomfortably reminds him of whenever Laura is pissed at him. “Are you saying you’d let Isaac deal with whatever is bothering him _alone_?”

“It’s more that this has to be the first time Isaac has ever actually asked for help before he needed it. It makes me wonder if this whole thing isn’t a setup.” Derek casts a look in Boyd’s direction in a desperate bid for help, but his best friend completely ignores him to check out the party around him, so Derek just sighs and follows the couple up the walkway to the front door. “Not to mention, he said just yesterday that he could deal with Jackson, so I don’t think-”

“Maybe this doesn’t have anything to do with Jackson, ever think of that?” Erica snaps, right as she gives a quick _rat-tat-tat_ to the door in front of her.

Derek doesn’t have time to answer before the door opens and Lydia Martin’s eyes roam over the lot of them, seeming to linger on Derek for a moment longer than his friends, before she ushers them in with a smile that Derek does _not_ trust.

There isn’t a chance to point this out to his friends, because they disappear almost as soon as they enter the house. It’s a feat in of itself, as the house isn’t that crowded to begin with, leaving Derek to navigate his way to the kitchen in the hopes that there is at least something decent to drink.

He doesn’t make it more than five steps before someone is bumping into him from behind and there’s a sudden blathering of, “Oh, my god. I am so sorry, dude! I didn’t get any of my drink on you, so you can just continue on to what you were do-”

The voice cuts off as soon as Derek turns around, but he can’t really blame him, as Derek himself is finding it a little hard to think of something to say.

The Bleachers Boy is standing in front of him.

There are a few moments of awkward silence before Bleachers Boy suddenly blurts out, “You’re even prettier up close!”

Derek blinks at that, cheeks heating as Bleacher Boy goes pale and hides his face in his hands.

“Oh. My. _**GOD**_. I can’t _believe_ I said that! I was going to be way cooler than that when I first started talking to you and Scotty never got back to me on if you even liked guys, so I have no clue if you’re flattered or disgusted! Please don’t kick my ass if you’re disgusted, I really don’t want-”

“You’re really pretty up close, too.” Derek isn’t really sure why he said that, other than he wasn’t sure what Bleachers Boy was talking about, but it wasn’t like it was a lie; Bleacher Boy _was_ pretty, with a lean body and mole speckled skin, as well as beautiful amber eyes, one of which was peering at him past hands that were slowly lowering from Bleacher Boy’s face.

(He really needed to find out this guy’s name soon, that mental name was kind of a mouthful and a little weird…)

“Um… thank you? I don’t know if you said that to be nice or not, but I appreciate you being nice about all of this instead of threatening to throw me into the lockers like a pinball-”

“Who told you that?” Derek demands, irrationally angry at the thought of someone harming this guy _that he barely knows_.

“Ummmmm…” There’s a slight hesitation before the guy speaks again, his eyes darting around like he isn’t sure if he wants to stick around anymore. “I’m not sure if I should tell you, considering you look like you’re about half a second away from ripping their throat out with your teeth?”

“I wouldn’t rip their throat out.” Derek waits a second, just enough for the guy to relax before stating, “Their tires, on the other hand…”

It startles a laugh from the guy, before he mutters something that sounds like ‘asshole would probably _freak_ if someone touched his precious car’ before raising his voice. “It doesn’t matter… I’m Stiles, by the way. Stiles Stilinski. Which is not my real name, I promise. My parents actually liked me enough to give me a strong and meaningful name, which unfortunately is Polish and almost _impossible_ for anyone to pronounce, hence the nickname.”

“I’m Derek. Derek Hale, and I was serious about before.” Derek is both utterly flabbergasted and delighted by Stiles-a name that Derek decides he likes after a moment of thought-and he’s thankful that he let Erica and Boyd drag him here, despite his complaints earlier.

He goes to look for them, after he makes a mental note to make sure to get Stiles’ number, so he knows where they are later, and isn’t surprised to see them making out in a corner of the room, either unknowing or uncaring of the people around them.

What _does_ surprise him, however, is the fact that Isaac is _also_ getting some action!

It takes him a second to recognize the person in Isaac’s lap, both because he doesn’t really need to see his best friends sucking on other people’s tongues and because Isaac’s hands keep getting in the way, and is that… Scott McCall?!?

“You… really meant that? That you thought I was pretty?”

Derek turns back to Stiles, a little thrown by his shocked tone, but the look on his face stops the words on Derek’s tongue. He’s surprised, yes, but there is also a slight blush there and the faintest glimmer of hope as well.

Screw just getting his number, by the end of this night, Derek’s getting a date too!

“Yeah, I really meant it.”

Stiles face absolutely _lights up_ after that, but Derek’s favorite part is what he says next:

“So, Derek, have you ever been to _Rosa’s_?”

“Maybe, what do you have in mind?”

“Well, since it’s apparent that both of our friends have ditched us, apparently for each other… what do you say we get out of here and get to know each other?”

Derek grins, reaching out and placing a hand at the small of Stiles’ back to start guiding him to the door, reveling in the pleased expression that Stiles tries to hide at the action.

“Sounds like a date.”


End file.
